1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to electrically operated remote-control adjustable vehicular sideview mirrors. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for the selection of a vehicular sideview mirror using eye gaze, wherein once selected, the sideview mirror can be adjusted by the vehicle operator.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles, such as cars and trucks, as well as other small vehicles, utilize rear-facing external sideview mirrors to allow a vehicle operator to see to the rear and sides of the vehicle. These sideview mirrors are located on the left and right sides of the driver-passenger compartment (hereafter, xe2x80x9coperator compartmentxe2x80x9d) of the vehicle. They comprise a housing and a positionable mirror pane (see U.S. Pat. No. Des. 276,514, xe2x80x9cSideview mirror for an automobile,xe2x80x9d Envall et al., Nov. 27, 1984; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 427,127, xe2x80x9cExterior auto sideview mirror,xe2x80x9d Horowitz, Jun. 27, 2000). By appropriate positioning of the mirror pane, the operator of the vehicle is able to see rearward to view the areas to the sides of the vehicle and further rearward.
Traditionally, each sideview mirror pane can be adjusted by an electrical remote control device whose controls reside inside the operator compartment, allowing the operator to look at a sideview mirror and to remotely adjust its mirror pane to provide the best view given the location of the operator""s eye(s). (See U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,483, xe2x80x9cRemote controlled rearview mirror,xe2x80x9d Fisher et al., Jun. 19, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,238, xe2x80x9cExterior rearview mirror for motor vehicles,xe2x80x9d Hxc3xcbscher et al., Apr. 20, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,505, xe2x80x9cElectrical remote-control mirror assembly,xe2x80x9d Nagayama et al., Dec. 28, 1993). The remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism typically provides four directions of movement for moving the mirror pane up, down and to each side. The adjustment mechanism can be in the form of four cursors or a joystick-like control. Although a vehicle typically has at least two sideview mirrors, there is usually only one remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism. The remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism adjusts whichever sideview mirror is currently xe2x80x9cselected.xe2x80x9d To remotely adjust the two sideview mirrors of a vehicle involves first looking at one of the sideview mirrors, for example, the left mirror, manually switching a mirror selector switch to select the left mirror (that is, moving the positionable portion of the switch to the position that indicates the left mirror is selected), and manipulating the remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism. The same process is then performed for the second sideview mirror: looking at the right sideview mirror, remembering to switch the selector switch to the position indicating the right mirror and manually positioning that switch, and adjusting the mirror pane using the remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism.
Known selector switches are used to determine which of the two sideview mirrors is to be adjusted by the mirror pane adjustment control. The selector switch typically has three detents for selecting either the left sideview mirror, a neutral position where neither mirror is selected, or the right sideview mirror.
In current practice, remotely adjusting vehicular sideview mirrors involves a number of steps: sliding/flipping/toggling a switch (the mirror selector switch) to indicate the operator""s choice of which mirror (the left or right sideview mirror) is to be adjusted, and then manipulating a second remote control mirror pane adjustment mechanism while watching the mirror movement to position the selected mirror pane. The operator then must repeat the entire process to adjust the second sideview mirror. In light of the above, there are typically numerous steps involved in remotely adjusting vehicular sideview mirrors (in practice, the number of steps is further increased by steps which involve looking away from a sideview mirror when having to locate the mirror selector switch, the remote-control mirror pane adjustment mechanism, and when moving from one step to another). Such a myriad of steps interrupt the flow of accomplishing a simple task. Accordingly, an efficient, simplified and accurate technique for automatically selecting a sideview mirror to be adjusted, is highly desirable.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for selecting remote controlled vehicular sideview mirrors. Advantageously, the present invention significantly reduces the number of steps a vehicle operator must perform to adjust a vehicle""s side view mirrors, thus simplifying the mirror adjustment process and in turn reducing the chance for human error. In addition, an aspect of the present invention advantageously allows the vehicle operator to automatically select and adjust a particular sideview mirror without having to continuously look at that particular sideview mirror.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a system for selecting a sideview mirror of a vehicle is provided comprising an eye gaze detector for detecting an eye gaze of an operator; a data processing apparatus for receiving input from the eye gaze detector and determining whether the operator is looking at a sideview mirror, wherein if the operator is looking at the sideview mirror, the sideview mirror is selected; and a mirror adjustment control for adjusting the selected sideview mirror.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of automatically selecting a sideview mirror in a vehicle is provided comprising the steps of activating an eye gaze contact detector for detecting eye contact in a sideview mirror; and determining if an operator is looking at the sideview mirror using a data processing apparatus, wherein if the operator is looking at the sideview mirror, a mirror selector switch is set to select the sideview mirror for adjustment by the operator using a mirror adjustment control.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of automatically selecting a sideview mirror is provided comprising the steps of activating an eye gaze tracking device for detecting a direction of an eye gaze of an operator; determining if the operator is looking towards a first sideview mirror using a data processing apparatus, wherein if the operator is looking towards the first sideview mirror, a mirror selector switch is set to select the first sideview mirror to be adjusted by the operator using a mirror adjustment control, and if the operator is not looking towards the first sideview mirror, further comprising the steps of: determining if the operator is looking towards the second sideview mirror using the data processing apparatus, wherein if the operator is looking towards the second sideview mirror, the mirror selection switch is set to select the second sideview mirror to be adjusted by the operator using the mirror adjustment control. It is to be noted that the first sideview mirror can comprise, for example, a left sideview mirror, and the second sideview mirror can comprise, for example, a right sideview mirror.
These, and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be described or become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.